Monday, October 22, 2012

While writing any blog or write-up the head-freaking share
for anyone always sticks at initiating it and rearing it. But fortunately I
don’t have to put any as such efforts to baffle my mind for same. All readers
know it’s about my industrial “picnic”. If you read my previous blog we were
supposed to be standing on Kesari’s headquarter. But our pick-up point changed
to Dastur Nagar by then.

Alarm rang horrifyingly. But for first time it wasn’t
irritating one...but felt dulcet. It was showing time 0606 hours Thursday, 04
October. Finally the most anticipated day arrived; for me, my friends, to some
extent our family members, our neighbours, to very little extent their home
members, milk-man [as our share was no more required for 8 days proficiently toshow-off Infosys visit], paper-man also to distant relatives as they were in
futile expectation that we might bring something for them from south India.

Adrenaline hormone was at the extremum calibre for me. Packing
was done prior night. Necessary phone calls were ended. Unnecessary clothes
were well packed in closet. Just last check-up was required. And acted.

Pratik M was supposed to see-off me to Dastur Nagar’s
pick-up point. As usual he was punctual and I was about to get ready. But this
was the only instant he didn’t mind as it was not college time; more significantly
he was not part of tour [regrettably]! I texted everyone to be there by 0800 hours
but I myself left by 0830 hours.

Hit the point; stupefied to see that almost every girl was
present. Some with family, some with friends, and some alone, some still refurbishing
their dress to make sure she look prettier than others. Guys were mere in
number.One-by-one everyone arrived.

Everyone’s respective luggages were surfaced in bus’s cargo
cabinet. Interim time few friends were introducing our classmates to their
parents. Chaos was so loud that if we were taken to 1400 A.D then Christopher
Columbus might have redirected to India instead of misrouting himself to
America...apparently there would have been lesser the continents to study in
Geography by today.

Enough of oneirism. So, bus was luggaged. Everyone was inbus. Seated. Smiling. Air castle-ingof what may happen in next 8 days.
Hi-5ing. Winking. And finally jilting their parents/friends/brothers/sisters/relatives
[neighbours were not present; so got a reason for not bringing anything forthem].

Abandoned for Nagpur by Shiv Travel’s Pinkline, 44 seater.
It was 0945 hours by then. Professors sit in forepart. Girls were following
them and “chengdi” of boys were undermentioned. First 30 minutes went on like
pin-drop-silence. Because it was first time Section A and Section B of Computer
Science and Engineering, 3rdyear were together on akin venture.
Some were confronting each other for first time. But slowly atmosphere started
getting a bit balmier and girls popped with “antakshari” [a game in which one
group starts with a specific song and next group has to find the song with the
same words with which their song ends. If that group don’t remember any such
song then they are levied with a due known as “bhendi”]. In this every girl in India is like Mrs. Prodigy; they
can do PhD in same. So, we guys pushed it [trying to use the stack’s pop-push
theory]. But realised that is useful only to score in exams and not in
opposition. They convinced all of us and we were up for game.

It shouted with song- aachasiladia tune mere pyar ka. And shaggy game were trotting. Guys were
singing all the modern song and on the contrary girls were having those old
hindi melodramatic Shah Rukh Khan, Yash Raj, DDLJ sort of boring song. The best
momentamong them was when we were directed with “ha” [ha] in the end we were
starting with “halkatjawana” and if
“la” [la] were levied then our song was “life
ki naughty kahani”. Everyone knowing the fact that both are same
songs...and girls were in no position to oppose us to any extent. Fun continued
and we had a small breakfast halt on some “kailashdadhabba” kind of place and continued on our itinerary.

By 1330 hours we were onNagpur railway station. Our train
wason 1420 hours. Ample of time were procurable for all of us to settle down
and breathe some extra oxygen. This time was utilised by us to allot seats to
thepals. Have lunch. Take a look to huckster’s good. Ogling. And some fun!

Our train Mysore Express was late by barely 10 min which was
equivalent to before-time for Indian Railways.

I was in S2 coach co-affiliated with Jay, Abhishek and
Archie. Girls were in S3. Few of us were in S6 and remaining in S10. All were
spread throughout the train so randomly that if some terrorist group asked us
to hijack train and demand some ransom we could have done that effortlessly
[that’s what my naughty mind thought]. Everyone attained their seats and train
departed. In no time we passed Sevagram, Chandrapur, Ballarshah and AirTelposted a message- Namaste! AirTel welcomes you in AP. We were in Andra Pradesh.
Roaming service was ON.

Me and Vinchu

From there protruded the terminology that was no less than
foreign language for all of us. We called it “jalebi” [shape of sweet edible
that resembles the words of that language] language; it was telugu. Only word I
was familiar with was “ra” means
friend.

With every arcsecond, every second, every minute every
passing hour we were confining to our terminus. But we were on huge tenterhooks.
A suspense that was more powerful than the nuclear bomb bombed upon us by
Principal on our industrial tour stand [for more reference visit my previous
blog]. Our Infosys visit was planned on 6th October. But due to
Kaveri river water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu the bandhwas harbingered. And it was on
same day. So, Infosys invalidated our visit a day prior to our departure. I was
inquandary to when, where, whom and how to tell everyone. I know many of us
were coming because of same rationality. It would have been like an earthquake;
even higher than 26th December, 2004’s Indonesian on Richter scale.
It was very arduous to wield the situation. Because it was me only who dealt diplomacy
with Infosys. So, even if I don’t divvy any section of decision making committee
about logistics of Infosys and neither do I shall drink a single drop of water
from Kaveri River ever in my life; I was supposed to be responsible for
cancellation of confabulation. I was needed an underwent steering then. Someone
who can make everyone understands about the playscript and considerations. I
headed to Himanshu Sir for same. And he told me to tell everyone all truth
regarding it! I was worried. Vexed. Concerned. Was machinating myself for the
questions I might face. Answers I need to give [more harder than I ever did in
my vivas]. More preferably; diplomatic answers. "Ghuma-firake" wale. At first I started it from S10 boys compartment;
Tejas, GirishKumar, Piyush and Mayur. They blasted-off the seats. Rejoiced. T20
World Cup was ongoing. Many people might considered it India winning it. I was
happy. Then S6. Boys; Aditya, Ojas, Jitesh, Abhishek, Pranav and Pratik. Same
scenario. I went cavalier.

S3. Girl’s compartment Mrunal, Ashwini, Sunaxi, Shrutika,
Kanchan, Akansha, Divya and Pooja S. I stepped in. I was aware that this won’t
be that easy. It was like battlefield. Fearfully conquering one by one
compartment. Reached the topographic spot. Re-planned my logistics. Revised
expected questions and my answers. Tactics were done. Foes were playing cards.
I took a deep breath. Was willing to puke everything at once. Giving no time to
their Central Nervous System to think and reply the stimuli that my words caused
in their eardrum. I puked out everything in no less than 5 seconds. It was
fast-forward [that also 200x] for many. Mission accomplished! But it was the
silence before the hurricane [even harsher than Jupiter’s Great Red Spot]. I crucified
hydrogen bomb on them. I thought everyone in that compartment was defeated.
Everyone went numb. Dull. Dumb. Obtuse. Speechless. I did my job. Ready on my
starting line which ended on my coach...S2. Was about to tell my conscience Get...Set...Go. Then instead of hearing
gun-fire; some chivalry hit me. Sanket
asaakasa..?? Apna Mysore ka jat ahot..?? Industrial tour kadhiahe mag..??
Shewtiahe ka..?? Udyakaikarayacha..?? Aj rahnar kuthe ahot..?? Pudhache
tickets kadhlet ka..??

These were surely more interrogations that I was expecting
and in-return prepared for. And now my mind went numb. Dull. Dumb. Obtuse.
Speechless. This time they did their job.

Analyzing each question I started answering one by one. I
was vulnerable. But slowly everything was calming down. New civilizations were
resettling in same surface area. Flora and fauna was blossoming. Blooming. Enriching
[I was the nurseryman at last]. They settled down. It was the period of
ceasefire. Diplomatic talks were going. Some treaties were signed. And finally
peace was established. They were ally now.

Next mission was another group of girls in same coach.
Kalyani, Amrita, Sonam, Puja [very nice friend circle I shall always respect]
accompanied by Rasika and Sneha in another compartment. I was experienced now
with better tactics to use. But these opponents proved to be weak...they hardly
raised any questions and I moved to S2; guys coach Archie, Abhishek and Jay. No
big deal. They were okay with that. Thus my missions were accomplished. Was
willing to shout Ahoo!! Ahoo!! Ahoo!! [But thought that it won’t be healthy for
me to do so in public; idea dropped]

1530 hours

All were preparing to have a sweet nap by now. Everyone was
in their Bermudas, 3-4thand sweatpants. Heat was tense [thanks to
not-so-great Indian Railways’ ventilation system]. Everyone was tired.
Retarded. And was drowsy. I spread down my bed-sheet. Assured my luggage is
well placed, made pillow of my jeans. As per my knowledge all were snoring.

1730 hours

Two hours completely wasted. Output was-am still decelerated.
I hardly saw any of mine crushes in my dream. Nap wasn’t satisfactory. With no
second thought I set my berth and departed. Headed towards guys’ coach. The
battlefield was well flourishing by now. Trade was blooming. Edibles were
passing to others. Curves were visible on lips. Smiling everywhere. They asked
me to have some. But so early trade with ally was not good. So, I didn’t have
it and kept marching to S6, gathered them all and then pointed to S10. Girish
did brought a big wooden casket amidst; Nagpur Orange. All of us did enjoy it
to fullest. Girish was having great knowledge of how to choose a sweet orange
over a sore one. Expect him everyone’s tongue turned sore. We asked him to
choose all succeeding oranges for us and we enjoyed them with great taste.

Then we played the best cards’ game I ever played in my
lifetime. It was-Good Morning, Professor. It names suggest to be pathetic but
believe me or not; it wasn’t. It’s all fun is basically in its rules. Game was
like everyone is distributed cards equally. With everyone’s turn he places his
card without flipping it. If there two persons who consecutively place same
card number then specific action were assigned to it. For Ace all have to place
their hands on the cards that were dumped by everyone. And the one placing his
hand last was considered out and all cards were given to him. Similar way if
two consecutive Jacks were placed then all have to shout Good Morning,
Professor; for Queens all have to bow down and for two consecutive Kings all
have to salute. It was a harebrained game but all fun lies in the action to
stimulus of our body. Many times it happened person doing two actions at once
like saluting and saying Good Morning, Professor or saluting and bowing down as
well. The laughter was so loud even aliens could have found humans [SETI would
be gratified; only problem was that sound don’t travel in space]. That game
continued for next two hours. Then we had our dinner and were spatting on
useless topics from all over the world.

Meanwhile in girl’s coach smiles were spreading. One of our
friend Sonam’s father parcelled them with the great hotel-food dinner. Kalyani
explain me about the entire scenario. They were carrying parcel. Firstly they
feel weird of how to tell everyone about the dinner stuff. No one was attentive
of it. And secondly none of them ever talked prior to it to anyone of other
girls. But somehow they made jugad of
giving their share to them. We guys were deprived of this fun.

YES!!! We are in Bangalore

In our domain we shift ourself to another game. Teen Patti
on 1 Re table basis. It was the first time I was playing. We all settled down
to play 10 games. It started. I was completely awestrucked. I won 4 straight
games. Thus pulled in 16 Rs. This was my first occasion. I was happy. But lose
all next 6 games. Finally Pranav was posted with 14 Rs of mine and I guess 5 Rs
was won by Piyush. Instead of taking them in cash alternatively we decided to
have some junk-food. Bluff was also one of them [even known as Challenge]. Game
continued.

2210 hours

I was done by now. Feeling drowsy. Stuffed with all tasty
dinner that my friends brought. As decided I was placed in girls’ coach to
sleep. Girls’ demanded that they need someone for their accompaniment. One who
can handle their tantrums. One who is trustworthy. Handsome. Smart. Cool. And
all such adjectives. And I was the solely one to fulfil all these needs.
Henceforth, I was now sleeping beside the girls’ compartment. Only guy down the
aisle. Was about to sleep but then Mrunal, Ashwini and Shrutika came and we elapsed
our gibberishes. We talked about all the fun that took place it boys coach and
explained the game. Whereas, remaining girls were doing the things that I never
thought they can do or might do. In college I saw everyone to be decorous,
well-mannered, and studious but realised that they are hellions in turn. Can’t
public the things they were doing.

I called-up Ojas to accompany me; more significantly was
feeling awkward. We both explicated the Good Morning, Professor game. Not letting
second hand of clock to step forward everyone gathered in one compartment. On
one berth was Oja, Ashwini, Me, Sunaxi and Akansha. And on our front berth was
Mrunal, Divya, Kanchan, Pooja and Shrutika. The game was taking pace and all of
us laughing like hell completely forgetting that we were in public place. Clock
tickling past 2300 hours. Our laughs turning into roars now. But in the whole
movie an unwanted person was introduced. Mr. TC [Ticket Checker a.k.a. Ticket
Taker]. Watching all of us he said something in his maternal language. We all
were like-aaaaaa!!! Did you said
anything?? Do you want to play with us?? But sir we don’t have space!! Can you
wait for next turn?? But his facial expressions clearly conveyed us that he
was not willing what we were considering. Then in his telugu-hindi accent he
said-yaaapetaajkhelnamanahai! Baki
logo ko taklif ho rahi hai.

We suddenly bend our faces in his respect as if he is the
supreme person of India. We packed everything and said him sorry. Not with perfunctory
politeness. But to kick-off him. He was off. And we were up with same game. After
an hour or so same villain was now re-introduced [this was even worse than
Harman Baweja’s re-introduction is Victory after Love Story 2050. Atleast to
save ourself we can avoid going to theatre but it was not possible here.] This
time he was more tensed. BHe was with better Hindi words that we did interpret.
And ameliorate converting power. In that time I tried reading his name-plate.
The name was so long that even an eon would have been insufficient to read [but
not larger than-Prabhakarna SriPalaWardhana Atapattu JayaSuriya
LaxmanSivramKrishna ShivaVenkata RajShekhara Sriniwasana Trichipalli
YekyaParampeel Parambatur ChinnaSwami MutuSwami VenuGopala Iyer; a film
character from movie Dhamaal]. I felt like hypermetropic. But this time we
turned a bit serious. A wisdom-man woke us up. And we were on respective berth
by 0130 hours. More importantly Sunaxi started feeling unconscious. Bid
everyone good night.

Day 2:

October 05, 2012

Scarlet Sky

0515 hours

I was up. Check out if all are fine. Felt hunky-dory. Gave a
look outside the window. The eastern horizon was layered with scarlet colour.
Sun was yet to rise. And on the west stars were still visible; twinkling. I was
witnessing this for first time. It was very impressive. My hands automatically
entered in my college-sack and in dark find way to my camera. Took some photos
and they found out to be satisfactory. Again went to my berth and slept.

My luggage was still settled in S2. Went there and had jibber-jabber
with Jay, Abhishek, Archie, Rasika and Sneha. Same instant saw some people
shouting my name. I was like-haaaa!!! Am I that famous?!?! But those were my
insane S10 berth friends. Foiled!!

I landed-down on platform. We all started o inengine’s
direction. Amazed to see it was not there. We kept on thinking that may be
diesel engine will guide us from here. We all were facingsame direction. With
our back; facing train. Then Mayur heard train whistle. There was no train
expect our on that station. We back-faced our self and dreadfully run towards
it. Our train was leaving. In early morning people are supposed to go on
jogging...but we were running faster than Usain Bolt. He was forsilly Gold
Medal and us for our luggage, friends and those 7000 bucks we paid to Kesari
Tour and Travels. Someway we all caught it. Hushing. Gushing. Breathing hastily
we settled down on my berth. Drank water and cardiogram seems to be normal.

After some time went back to S6 to survey. They were up and
running. We all joined them. Had some fun and went on with jabbering.

1200 hours

Almost everyone was in S3 now. Not because girls were there.
But because Ojas’s power-plug was borrowed by me to charge everyone’s mobiles.
The strain was clearly visible on eyes that everyone was putting to see who
end-up with their charging and we go there. Meanwhile Jay and I checked the PNR
status of our advancing journey to Mysore. It was clear. And tickets were
confirmed.

1400 hours

Bangalore City was visible by now. Multi-storey buildings. 4
lane roads. Everything under renovation. Refurbishing. I asked permission from Himanshu Sir to get a
photo under the yellow coloured “Bangalore City” board. I seeped same in
everyone’s billions of neurons. And everyone followed me.

Bangalore arrived and as planned all of us headed straight
towards that board. Luckily base was available for my camera [happy to see I
will be in photo]. Set camera on 10 second timer. 10...9...8... and our cheese
smiles turned into awful one. Our train was heading away from us. We were still
willing to have that photo. But what about train? What if it was gone? I forced
everyone to hold-on for next few seconds. Shutter blinked and we run faster
than ever in our life. Not even giving second thought all climbed in the most approachable
coach. Climbed it. Rushed to go to our coach from inter-connected way. But
found out to be unavailable. We mistakenly jumped into General Coach of train.
Then all pitty girls instead of waiting for next station and changing our coach;
at the same instant jumped out and climbed in next coach. We were in right
coach. We were doing nothing except watching each other’s facial expressions. Our
breaths were calming down and with that speed of the train as well. Later get
to know train were positioning it. Again we boys were out of train. But not our
counterpart. Mistakes are often done to not repeat. But we were repeating it
again...and it consequences were visible on our tour.

The rampart moment when train was departing!!!!

Again same thing happened. Train departed and everyone
rushed-in. This time we wasn’t grinning. Situation turned tense. We lost our
one friend on platform-Tejas. Strained. Distorted. Sieving the situation to
handle it. Girish and Piyush said they saw him climbing up the train. But not
certain. We gave this news to Himanshu Sir. And he called the basis culprit of
this accident. It was none other than Me. I was scolded by him. Called on the
carpet. Very soon train stop somewhere in middle of route. Abruptly I jumped on
the tracks. And start marching towards the last coach. It was me who was
supposed to so. I saw no-one following me. This made me aware I am alone
responsible. Climbed general coach and dig out all compartments. But they were
lacking the thing; my friend- Tejas. This was one of the worst feelings I had
in my lifetime. I thought of not going back into my coach.Got down of that coach. Channelized towards my destination.

In lieu of climbing from S2 I raised from S1. I know interrogation was on my way. What to do next?? Should we talk to TT?? Or dial 139 [they won’t even understand my language either]?? Or catch another train back to Bangalore?? All hypotheses were being
analyzed. Consternation was visible. Trotting; I reached the end of S1. My eyes
meet a familiar physique. I tapped his back and found to be Tejas [my expression
did dreaded Tejas]. Thus I was able to breathe with ease now. He and I get
along to our coach.

The atmosphere was happy now. Everyone was happy. This
certainly was a great sigh of relief for me. Himanshu Sir. Burgate Sir and all
our mates.

Things got back to normal. And by 1630 hours we were in Mysore. Yes! Finally we are in Mysore. A place we were waiting to reach since last a month. We brought the bacon home.

In India goingin another state is more often like going to another country. Completely distinct language.Different cuisines.Rituals.Customs.Wardrobe.Attitude.Call rates.Even petrol prises.

We were in Mysore, Karnataka!!

[In train while protruding I witnessed a phenomenon. Almost two coaches were reserved by some students. Each time I was surpassing them they were astounding me. All of them were talking...but all with hand gestures.They were dumb and deaf. Sadly! Every time I was crossing them they were continuously talking. They were in action all the time they were awake. Having more topics to spat upon. I was carrying a chocolate pack with me. The thought of giving that to them. But postponed it for the morning. And when I get back to them for same. They were all gone. Missed a great opportunity to let themselves explain, to hear their unsaid words, to feel them and be among them. I was left with nothing else but regret!]